Two companies in Saudi Arabia set final offering pricing for their IPOs at the top end of a range on Sunday, underscoring the booming demand for share sales in the kingdom.
Elm Co., a digital security firm owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is expected to raise $820 million, while Scientific & Medical Equipment House Co. may garner $83 million.
Share sales in Saudi Arabia have seen huge investor demand in the past year, with most IPOs getting priced at the top of offering ranges and then the shares surging on their trading debut. The Saudi benchmark index has jumped about 9% this year, extending its 2021 gains of 30%.
The pipeline for IPOs in the kingdom is “deeper than ever,” the stock exchange’s Chief Executive Officer Khalid al Hussan said in an interview in December. He said “it will be even better” in 2022, adding that technology, health care and education companies are among the newcomers to the market.
Saudi Arabia’s economy, the biggest in the Middle East, has been boosted by the surge in oil prices to over $85 a barrel and the government easing coronavirus lockdowns. Some of the biggest IPOs last year included offerings by ACWA Power, Solutions by STC and Saudi Tadawul Group.
And for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. the kingdom will remain the busiest of the Middle East’s stock markets, even as the United Arab Emirates pushes more companies to go public.
Sunday IPO pricing:
- Elm will sell shares at 128 riyals apiece after institutional book-building
- It marketed shares at: 113 riyals to 128 riyals
- Scientific & Medical Equipment will sell shares at 52 riyals apiece after institutional book-building
- It marketed shares at: 45 riyals to 52 riyals
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